Ramblings on wine from a German in Ann Arbor

Sunday Read: Almaroja Pirita 2007 Arribes

This week’s Sunday Read is a novelty. It is just one review, but this wine review has a couple of things that I want to share. First of all, it is written by Jancis Robinson, who I really like and who in my view is one of the most gifted wine writers out there.

Second, it is one of those many interesting wine stories out there, about a person following her dream, opening a winery in a remote area of Spain. I love those stories.

Third, the wine review is about a wine that I just had Friday night. I really enjoyed the wine a lot, but did not take any notes because it was during Nina’s birthday party which, since our time in Germany, has always had the theme “we provide cheeses and some mustards and you bring a bottle of wine you like”. This year, the invitation encouraged guests to bring obscure varietal wines to help us in our quest to make the Wine Century Club.

And that is the fourth reason why I am sharing this review: This wine catapulted me across the 100 different grape varieties tried threshold to enter the Wine Century Club with its mostly unknown grapes Juan Garcia, Rufete, Bruñal, Tempranillo, Tinta Madrid, Bastardillo Chico, Bastardillo Serrano, Tinta Jeromo, Gajo Arroba and Verdejo Colorado. I will soon mail in my application and then will be a proud member! I will write wrote more about this club in a separate post…

Yeah, I always marvel about these tiny productions and how they end up at a random store. Like when I saw some of the Loch winery wines in Anchorage. That guy has a total production of maybe 15,000 bottles (for all of his wines), and there they were…

Hi Oliver!
I also like Jancis R. and her wine writing a lot. Unsurprisingly, we are on the same page ;-)
Congrats on entering the WCC: I have been meaning to look into it for a while now, but never had the time. You might have given me the motivation to!
Finally, very interesting wine you had and more importantly… Happy Birthday, Nina, from the two of us! :-)

A Happy Belated Birthday greeting to your charming Bride Nina. Congratulations are in order for your attaining the 100 varietal mark to enter into the Century Club. I book marked the site, to look at it, at another time, to see if I have been fortunate enough to have tried enough to enter the association. I know that you have been working toward that goal, and you have achieved it, and I am happy for you. I shall raise a glass and toast you, this evening during dinner.
– John

Thank you so much, John! Yes, we had been working on this “project” since Nina’s birthday last year when I gave her an application sheet and the commitment to make it together. I bet you have crossed that mark as well. If not, it is so much fun getting there. The joy is in the journey for sure. I will pass your greetings along, and will talk with Nina about when we can meet again!

Congratulations on the wine century! This wine definitely carries quite a few varietals which I also don’t have : ) but it doesn’t look like it will be an easy find (wine searcher doesn’t show any availability in US

The wine was brought by a friend of ours. Turns out, one (the only?) importer is located in Detroit and she bought it in the local store…sometimes, one just has to be lucky. I would assume that a week in Spain or Italy can bring up to 30 different new grapes into our counts. So many obscure grapes there…

In this case it is definitely what counts is the journey, that is where the most fun is.
Yes, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and all the mediterranean countries, like Greece, Croatia, Serbia will help you to add quite a few grapes and also find some undiscovered jewels along the way.

Thanks so much! There were so many varietals in it. It definitely made it easy. According to the card that came with it, only 6,500 bottles were produced, and 1,650 made it to the US. Good luck finding it!! :)